Banks Wilson

“Omni-channel experience” is the latest marketing buzzword, but what exactly does it mean? According toGoogle, we spend 170 minutes per day on smartphones, 120 minutes on our desktops, and 75 minutes on tablets, excluding time on work devices. Consumers are switching from phones to tablets to laptops without missing a beat and20 percent of people use a second device concurrently while using their computer.

The buyer’s journey is a marketing concept that has gained a lot of traction over the past few years. Whether B2B or B2C, it is important for marketers to tailor their messaging to each of the stages that potential customers move through. A 2014 DemandGen report showed61% of B2B buyers chose a vendor who delivered a better mix of content appropriate for each stage of the purchasing process. As the buyer's journey will be different depending on your industry and business model, it is critical to understand which stages are most relevant to your company.

I’ve heard many business owners say they feel having a blog is nice, but unnecessary. Sure, people like to read and share articles, but spending time and money on a content marketing strategy isn’t worth it. A blog doesn’t create any real value or offer a positive ROI. Blogging isn’t just a bonus for your business, it is an essential component of your overall marketing strategy. Blogging generates more than just Facebook shares and website traffic. And it’s a great way to drive a large amount of tangible and intangible value for your business. If you don’t currently have a content marketing strategy in place, keep reading to find out why you need one.

You’ve heard of content marketing. You’ve heard it’s the next big thing and everyone is doing it, but your company sells widgets for other companies’ wadgets and no one wants to read about that. Surely a B2B company has no reason to invest in a content marketing strategy. Wrong. While there is a seemingly endless flow of information out there on creating content marketing strategies to drive consumer business, B2B content marketing is still struggling to find its footing. In fact, 55% of B2B marketers think it’s unclear within their organization what successful content marketing looks like and 20% of B2B marketers don’t even have a content marketing strategy at all!

When it comes to writing a digital agency RFP, it’s important to do it right. Many agencies don’t like request for proposals as they can feel outdated, impersonal, and often like a waste of time. Some agencies may outright refuse to respond. Unfortunately, many business owners aren’t sure which questions to ask or what information to include in their RFPs. As a result, RFPs are often too long, full of redundant questions, or based on a one-size-fits-all RFP template. RFPs that are chock full of unnecessary information waste both the time of your business and the agencies who are reading them. Use the below information to avoid common pitfalls and create a digital agency RFP that’s of value both to you and the digital agencies responding to it.

If you’re tired of hearing that the “future of marketing is changing” every other week, you’re not alone. Many of these marketing fads and passing social media platforms will be gone before you can even think about a strategy. But one trend that is certainly not disappearing is mobile marketing.In 2014 mobile internet usage surpassed desktop for the very first time. And that trend continues its upward climb. While mobile marketing is here for good, it’s still unclear as to which mediums and techniques are going to prove the most successful in the long run. Today we’re going to discuss a few mobile marketing trends that we believe will come out on top when the dust of the mobile revolution settles.

For years now social media has lagged far behind email and organic search as a driver of revenue for e-commerce sites. Social media has been great at creating a brand presence, driving traffic, and connecting with consumers. But where is the disconnect with purchasing? If users love your brand on social, why have we continued to see low conversion rates when it comes to making a sale?

We talked recently about why you need to use buyer personas in marketing. Today we’re going to walk through how to do it. In order to create a persona, you’re going to need some data. This information does not come from your imagination or who you think your best customers are. It comes from interviewing real live people and finding out what makes them tick. It can be existing customers, prospects, lookalikes on Facebook, even past customers who terminated their business with you can be an extremely valuable resource. In fact, it’s important to hear from both happy and unhappy customers throughout this process.

Creating buyer personas for your business may feel like something you’ve already done: “We mostly sell to married women over 40.” That’s great. But while understanding demographics is important, creating personas for marketing is far more in depth. A buyer persona is a somewhat fictional representation of a specific, ideal customer of yours. This persona should of course include demographics, but should also dictate details such as behavior patterns, motivations, goals, and problems they face.

Thank you to everyone who applied to the 2016 Kelly Somey Digital Marketing Scholarship! We received over 35 submissions this year from passionate high school seniors across the country. After reviewing all of the entries, UNION is excited to announce that the winner of the 2016 Kelly Somey Digital Marketing Scholarship is Bryant Wong!

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UNION is a digital marketing agency founded in 2002 and headquartered in Charlotte, NC. Considered a digital marketing leader, UNION collaborates with many of the Southeast region's top brands to achieve business objectives through strategy, creative and technology. The agency specializes in crafting digital marketing platforms, content and campaigns that deliver meaningful and measurable ROI results. Want to work with us?